The APG Creative Strategy Awards Shortlist 2009: The Economist

This is the story of a brand walking away from a celebrated campaign.
For more than 20 years, The Economist's business model had focused on
high-worth consumers, and premium ad space. But the new chief executive
wanted to triple profit in five years. The old model offered limited
options for such expansion. The Economist needed a new audience.

By questioning all aspects of the existing strategy, a clear hypothesis
as to audience emerged. Only 5 per cent of Generation Y were Economist
readers. Although the content was appropriate for them, its brand values
were not. Research identified two modes of knowledge-gathering used by
Generation Y, "beach-combing" and "coal-mining". The Economist was found
to deliver beach-combing par excellence.

The research was thorough and insightful, but the panel also loved the
way the campaign was briefed. Initially, heritage was a block and the
first ads didn't make the transition. Briefing number two mapped
visually all the knowledge connections respondents had made, creating a
web of interconnected ideas. This provided the creative breakthrough
needed.

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